After a terrific thunder storm during the night, we left at 9.45 for the 83 miles to this Aire. It was a very different journey as the scenery was quite flat compared to the previous journeys. However, we arrived by 1205 which was good. This Aire is in the car park of the town and you are right outside the school. It says that ...

Wake up call at 7:00 on the coach at 8:30. Breakfast the usual continental or made to order undercooked omelets. Still in France we head to the Loire valley to the castle of Chenonceau the home of Diane de Poitiers (tragic mistress of Henri ll) and later of his vengeful wife Catherine of Medici. The Castle had wonderful gardens and a large maze to get lost in. We continue on the coach and cross ...

The roads we travelled were lined with thick trees and the roads very narrow. It was lovely area to reminisce in and we left after about 20 minutes.

At 11.15am we arrived at Ole On (spelt Orleans) and spent an hour exploring the town. It was lovely and bigger than it sounds. Orleans is the capital of the Centre –Val de Loire Region of north –central France, located some 120 kms from Paris.

Spots of rain after breakfast came as a shock but had passed by11.30 so we took the opportunity to go on the bikes as planned for today. We cycled to the small but pretty town of St Loup and although the round trip was less than ten miles there were a lot of hills to tackle and the heat was excessive. The town (being a Sunday) was deserted, and I half expected to see ...